river traffic halted on Rhine due to bomb

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it will hopefully not affect any cruises today, but just to mention it:

this afternoon a bomb will be defused in the village of Westerburg, that is just North of Koblenz, i.e. downstream. The bomb was found during building works in the village, but the Rhine section is within the potential blast radius, meaning the safety zone that has to evacuated.

Most cruise lines pass that section of the Rhine during the early morning, evening or night to and from Cologne.

All river traffic will be halted around there during the afternoon.

World War Two legacy. Bombs are found on a regular basis still, although rarely in the river these days.

Whew. First I thought something else. I imagine that there are several live bombs out there along the river. It reminded me to tell folks that if one runs a little past where the ships dock in Rudesheim you can see the remains of the Hindenburg Bridge which was bombed during WWII and now just sits there in pieces. History buffs especially should check it out.

I must correct my entry: the village is called Weitersburg, Westerburg is a small town in the hills South East of Koblenz.

Everything went smoothly, actually faster than anticipated, according to the authorities.

hostjazzbeau,

that is sweet, thank you.

Got2Cruise,

Koblenz was heavily bombed and the bridges along the Rhine targeted. Some bombs are scattered in surrounding fields as conditions 75 years ago ment firing was not always accurate.

Thank you for pointing out the bridge remains at Rüdesheim. As I mentioned in a thread last year there were three "sister" bridges. Those railway bridges were built for strategic reasons during WWI. They suffered different fates. The bridge at Rüdesheim was never rebuilt and is somewhat forgotten in memory outside of the area. The Urmitz bridge was rebuilt in a different style and is still used to connect Koblenz with the railway line on the right bank of the Rhine to Cologne. Remagen bridge was never rebuilt but is of course well known. The stumps at Remagen house the Peace Museum.

On the other side at Erpel there is the railway tunnel which will be the (original) setting for a theatre play in August. In German language, it focusses on the events around the failed destruction of the bridge by German troops.

There are still bombs in the ground, indeed. Enough work for the squads for many years to come.

There were a lot of bombs and artillery shells expended so I guess it is not surprising that they are still being discovered.

I just want to put in a plug for the Peace Museum in Remagen. Our cruise stopped in Bonn, and it was a 20 min, 7€ or so RT train ride. Short walk, down hill from the Bahnhof then along the river path to the bridge site. Unfortunately, the Captain wouldn't stop at the town dock to pick us up . . .

Originally posted by KirkNC
Thanks for the report! Wow, would have thought bombs over 60 years old would have just fallen apart by now.

We just came back from Budapest to the Black Sea and one of our excursions was into Croatia, where in forested areas there are signs telling you to be very careful because there are still land mines in wooded areas! Our TM told us that every year there are several people getting injured by them...and the signs are written in several languages. Of course the mines aren't from WWI or II, but it's still disconcerting to think that long after the reasons for fighting are done people are still being maimed and killed by the weapons used.